|
This is Part Two of a series delving into the relationships of the newest GOP power brokers in Baton Rouge. You can find Part One here.
So, why, when presented with Daniel Claitor, an attorney with deep roots in Baton Rouge, Laurinda Calongne, a prominent healthcare exec, and Lee Domingue, a relative newcomer to Baton Rouge with gobs of baggage (bankruptcies, lawsuits, sketchy business deals, and a tendency to not actually vote), why did McCollister (and Jindal) back Domingue?
But, the missing link in this story isn't really Rolfe. It's Julio Melara, who is the co-owner of the Business Report and the publisher of 225.
The least common denominator here is that Rolfe McCollister, and Julio Melara, are both regulars at Healing Place Church (HPC), South Baton Rouge's fastest growing megachurch, where Domingue is a 'Pastoral Vision Advisor'.
Rolfe and Julio's involvement in HPC explain the number of glowing articles about HPC and its pastor Dino Rizzo in both the BRBR and 225, and it's probably less surprising that the BRBR selected Lee Domingue as its Businessperson of the Year for 2008. It seems that Rolfe and Julio were prepping their readers for Domingue's eventual run.
Okay, so there's really nothing fundamentally wrong with McCollister or Melara backing a guy with whom they attends church, although I would have figured Rolfe for a mainline Protestant type (or at least a St. Aloysius-style Catholic). I had simply assumed Melara to be Catholic as well.
As it turns out Melara and Domingue might be described, in internet parlance, as BFF. They EVEN vacation together, here's them in Australia in 2007 on the right:
And, here's HPC's boss Dino Rizzo talking on his friendship with Melara and Domingue.
And, look at this: Melara and Domingue both sit on the board of Omni Bank.
Further proof here.
And, woah, here's Melara bragging on Domingue's book, Pearls of the King.
That Melara supports his very flawed best friend doesn't bother me. But, his and Rolfe's unflagging support of someone they have religious, business, and personal ties does call into question their collective judgment and the editorial biases of their mags.
We're witnessing, it seems, the emergence of a group of men who are all tied through Healing Place Church. They are McCollister, Melara, Domingue, Jindal's Chief of Staff Timmy Teepell, MAPP Construction's Mike Polito (also an OMNI bank board member), and a couple of others.
They go to church together, sit on bank boards together, run real estate interests together, which in turn run construction interests together, and then flog their developments through their magazines (The Business Report, 225, and 10/12. And, the final part of their plan? Get their own elected to public office.
I think it's fair to say that although the Business Report and 10/12 provide pretty decent business coverage, and 225 offers some suspect restaurant reviews, we can safety assume the BRBR, 225, and 10/12 not to be 'objective' sources of news for anything political. |
